30 Footballers Who Are Animal Lovers At Heart

If there’s one thing people like more than football, it’s animals. Few can resist a cute pup, cuddly cat or rascally raccoon. OK maybe not so much the raccoon, but everyone definitely loves pictures of footballers with animals.

Soccer players, just like the rest of us, love their pets — and animals in general. We love soccer players and animals, so we felt it prudent to compile a list of the 30 cutest pictures of footballers with animals.

And because we’ve already wasted enough of your time before getting to the cute pics, we’ll shut up and let you get on with saying “daww” over and over.

The 30 Cutest Pictures Of Footballers With Animals

Roberto Carlos

@ftbllrswanimals | Twitter

Roberto Carlos

The Brazilian with the meanest left foot in football has extremely soft hands to cradle this sleeping pup.

Lieke Martens

@ftbllrswanimals | Twitter

Lieke Martens

The best female footballer in the world needs a higher quality camera phone, but you can just about make out a face in the ball of fluff she’s holding.

Lionel Messi

@leomessi | Instagram

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is one of the smallest footballers on the planet but he’s got one big doggo. Aptly named Senor Hulk, this Dogue de Bordeaux is a large French Mastiff and nearly as big as Messi himself, but we still want to give him a big hug.

Alexis Sanchez

@ftbllrswanimals | Twitter

Alexis Sanchez

The only thing Alexis Sanchez loves more than remonstrating with teammates is his dogs Atom and Humber, who had their own signs at Emirates Stadium before the Chilean winger moved to Manchester United.